Multiple container package



Jain. 27, 197-0 A. w. BRITTON ET AL 3,491,873

' MULTIPLE CONTAINERPAGKAGE Filed March 27. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ARTHUR WRAY BRITTON HERBERT ALFRED LESHER PAUL GLENRPSIEPHAN ATTORNEY Jan. 27,1910 R ON ETAL 3,491,878

MULTIPLE CONTAINER PACKAGE Filed March 27. 1968 2 Sheets-sheaf, 2

, 30.. F E GI 3 I I I I, I

- INVENTORS ARTHUR WRAY BRITTON HERBERT ALFRED LESHER PAUL GLENN STERHAN l b ATTORNEY United States Patent O US. Cl. 206-65 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A package comprising a plurality of capped bottles arranged in linear rows, a formed paperboard top section which has registered apertures in aligned formation for receiving the caps and adjacent neck sections of the capped bottles, and a heat shrunken thermoplastic film adhered to the top section and extending down the sides and across the bottom of the package.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention is related to packaging and more particularly to the packaging of a plurality of capped bottles in a heat-shrinkable, thermoplastic film overwrap.

Description of the prior art The beverage industry has sold their bottled products in grouped units of four, six and eight bottles for many years. Commonly, the bottles were of the returnable type and the bottle carriers were fabricated from heavy paperboard or plastic and had individual compartments for each bottle in the group. Both the bottles and the carriers were returnable. Such bottle carriers are of heavy-duty construction and are capable of withstanding repeated trips between the bottling plant and the consumers. The cost of these carriers is significantly greater than normal packaging which is designed to protect, an article up to the time of sale to the consumer. The added cost, however, is justified since the carriers as well as the bottles are repeatedly reusable.

The use of nonreturnable bottles in the beverage industry has become commonplace in recent years. The bottle carriers used in packaging the nonreturnable bottles must be of less expensive construction than those used with returnable bottles but they still must be capable of withstanding the normal handling stresses associated with the distribution of the beverage product. The most common type of carrier currently used in packaging nonreturnable bottles of beverage is the open-ended carrier carton fabricated from a scored and folded paperboard blank which is formed into a four-sided carton. Cartons of this type usually have provision for retaining the relative positions of the bottles within the confines of the paperboard overwrap and also keep the tops of the bottles aligned by provision of spaced holes in the top section of the carton through which the bottle tops are inserted during the packaging operation. Such a package, however, is expensive due to the high cost of the prescored and printed cardboard blanks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a package comprising a plurality of at least two cylindrical containers arranged in a substantially wall abutting relationship with one another whereby void spaces are formed within container groupings, and a heat-shrunken overwrap arranged in a contour conforming configuration with the containers, the improvement comprising:

3,491,878 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 A top carrier piece having a center panel and two side panels, the centerpanel having at least one finger hole to provide lifting means,

A heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap formed into the shape of a U having substantially square corners, the overwrap being shrunk around the bottom and sides of the plurality of containers in a contour conforming configuration, and

Means adhesively securing the film overwrap to the side panels of the top carrier piece.

The cost of the packaging materials required to fabricate the package of the invention is significantly lower than is the cost of the packaging materials for existing packages of comparable design.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will be described in detail by reference to the following drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a package of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the package of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an end view of another embodiment of the package of the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the package of FIGURE 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The package structure herein disclosed and illustrated in FIGURE 1 comprises a grouping of cylindrical containers 1 having cap-type closures 2, top carrier piece 3, thermoplastic film overwrap 4 and adhesively coated tape 5. The containers 1 can be glass bottles, plastic containers or metallic cans while the closures 2 can be screw caps, lug caps or crown seal caps.

The top carrier piece 3 preferably is formed from a paperboard blank that has been cut and creased to provide a top center panel 6 for the package and two adjoining, sloping side panels 7 and 8. The center panel 6 has registered holes 9 through 14 arranged in linear row formations for receiving the necks and caps of the containers 1 and also finger holes 15 and 16 to facilitate the carrying of the package.

The thermoplastic film overwrap 4 can be of any suitable organic thermoplastic material such as a polyolefin film or films manufactured from such resins as polyvinylidene chloride copolymers, polyethylene terephthalate, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, polystyrene, and ionomers all of which are preferably biaxially oriented and heat shrikable so that they may be heat-shrunken to envelop the articles 1 in a contour conforming configuration. It is preferred that 200 EH-30 Clysar (heat-shrinkable polyethylene film available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company) be used as the film for fabricating the overwrap 4 of this package.

Tape 5 is used to secure the sloping side panels 7 and 8 of the top carrier piece 3 to the heat-shrinkable overwrap 4. It is preferred that a paper stock tape be used that has been coated on one or both sides with an adhesive. Pressure sensitive adhesives or heat sensitive adhesives, such as blends of Waxes and ethylene/vinyl acetate resins, can be used. The type of tape used in forming the package will depend largely upon the type of machinery used to fabricate the package. The tape employed can be used to convey advertising messages and to provide a tear tape opening means for the package, These desirable tape features would be designed into the tape selected for use with the package.

FIGURE 2 shows an end view of the package shown in FIGURE 1. It is seen that the heat-shrinkable film used in the overwrap partially encloses the ends of the package. The shrinkage capability of the film must be great enough to cause the overwrap 4 to engage the containers 1 on the side and on the bottom. This results in a rigid package structure that can be handled conveniently.

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of another embodiment of the invention. The top carrier piece 3a in this embodiment is located so that its center 6a is above and touching the closures 2 of the containers 1. This arrangement provides for a package of capped containers that has a smooth, flat, upper surface to facilitate stacking of the packages. Finger holes are provided in the center panel 6a similar to that shown in center panel 6 of FIGURE 1. However, greater freedom is permitted in their location due to the absence of bottle necks and tops above the grasping plane.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the package shown in FIGURE 3. The top carrier piece 3b in this embodiment has a center panel 6b and side panels 762 and 8a which have notches 17 through 22 punched through the board to receive portions of the closures 2. Finger holes 15a and 16a can be punched in the center panel 6b in a manner similar to that shown in the package of FIGURE 1.

What is claimed is:

1. In a package comprising a plurality of at least two cylindrical containers arranged in a substantially wall abutting relationship with one another whereby void spaces are formed within container groupings, and a heat-shrunken overwrap, arranged in a contour conforming configuration with said containers, the improvement comprising:

a top carrier piece having a center panel and two side panels, said center panel having at least one finger hole to provide lifting means,

a heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap formed into the shape of a U having substantially square corners, said overwrap being shrunk around the bottom and sides of said plurality of containers in a contour conforming configuration,

means adhesively securing said film overwrap to the two side panels of said top carrier piece, and

wherein the means adhesively securing the top carrier piece to the heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap comprises, two strips of two-side adhesivecoated tape located between the side panels of the top carrier piece and the overwrap.

2. In a package comprising a plurality of at least two cylindrical containers arranged in a substantially wall abutting relationship with one another whereby void spaces are formed wthin container groupings, and a heatshrunken overwrap arranged in a contour conforming configuration with said containers, the improvement comprising:

a top carrier piece having a center panel and two side panels, said center panel having at least one finger hole to provide lifting means,

a heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap formed into the shape of a U having substantially square corners, said overwrap being shrunk around the bottom and sides of said plurality of containers in a contour conforming configuration,

means adhesively securing said film overwrap to the two side panels of said top carrier piece, and

wherein the means adhesively securing the top carrier piece to the heat shrunken thermoplastic film over- Wrap comprises two strips of one-side, adhesivecoated tape overlapping the uppermost edges of said film overwrap and each of the side panels of said top carrier piece.

3. A package for a plurality of at least two containers having top cap-type closures comprising:

containers arranged in two rows in a substantially wall abutting relationship with one another such that the cap-type closures are in two linear rows,

a top carrier piece having a center'panel and two side panels, said center panel having two rows of punched, closure receiving holes, said top carrier piece being located around the tops of said containers such that the cap-type closures are in a plane above the plane of the center panel of the top carrier piece,

a heat shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap surrounding the bottom and lateral sides of the rows of containers and partially extending around the ends of each row,

means adhesively securing the side panels of said top carrier piece to said heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap, and

wherein the means adhesively securing said top carrier piece to said heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap comprises two strips of two-side, adhesivecoated tape located between the side panels of the top carrier piece and the overwrap.

4. A package for a plurality of at least two containers having top cap-type closures comprising:

containers arranged in two rows in a substantially wall abutting relationship with one another such that the cap-type closures are in two linear rows,

a top carrier piece having a center panel and two side panels, said center panel having two rows of punched, closure receiving holes, said top carrier piece being located around the tops of said containers such that the cap-type closures are in a plane above the plane of the center panel of the top carrier piece,

a heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap surrounding the bottom and lateral sides of the rows of containers and partially extending around the ends of each row,

means adhesively securing the side panels of said top carrier piece to said heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap, and

wherein the means adhesively securing said top carrier'pie'ce to said heat-shrunken, thermoplastic film overwrap comprises two strips of one-Side, adhesivecoated tape overlapping the uppermost edges of the overwrap and each of the side panels of the top carrier piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,899,051 8/1959 Barnby 206-65 2,980,245 4/1961 Stoker 206-46 3,206,020 9/1965 Billingsley 20665 3.388,788 6/1968 Hellem 206-4533 FOREIGN PATENTS 691,904 8/1964 Canada.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR, Primary Examiner US. Cl, X.R. 206-4533 

